I found these wedding favors a few years back on MyWeddingFavors and I thought, "OMG I MUST HAVE THESE FOR MY WEDDING!" Peas and peapods have always been a special thing for my fiance and I despite the fact that they usually bring to mind new babies and expectant mothers. We did decide to have a little bit of a pea pod theme incorporated into our fall wedding by using a custom made pea pod cake topper and green for one of the main colors. When I first found the above salt & pepper shakers I thought how cute would these be to give as favors?! Then I really got to thinking about it...
Fast forward to now as I am currently planning my own wedding and the idea of favors just seems a little unnecessary to me. In the past 5 years I have been to I believe 7 weddings. Each of those weddings had favors of some kind, but I must admit that I did not keep any of the non-edible favors. Three weddings had personalized votive candles. Each had their name and wedding date with a simple vanilla scented candle. While I took mine home and used it, I threw the votive away when the candle was through because who really wants a trinket with someone else's name and wedding date on it? At one wedding, the votive candles were so well incorporated into the couples tablescape that only a handful of the 200+ guests knew/realized they were supposed to take the candle as a favor!
At other weddings I attended, the trinket style favors included matchbooks, drink holders, pens, and personalized bell Christmas ornaments, in addition to the votive candle holders. Some weddings also had more than one favor. As I priced out the adorable pea pod shakers as favors for myself - at 150 favors that would be a whopping $450 in JUST the favors - not including shipping. Personalization of the labels is extra as well, so really it would cost me about $500 to get these favors for my wedding. Not only is that WAY too expensive for my budget but really, who would want these or use them? They are porcelain and they are salt and pepper shakers. Of all my friends and family members, most of them use salt and pepper crackers that you get generic from the grocery for $1. Let's face it, most people my age will not ever go to the trouble of filling a salt and pepper shaker. As a vintage dealer, have sold quite a few S&P's to collectors but again, they are not typically used. So, unless you had a display area, these would be taken home and likely tossed in a drawer to be forgotten or handed over to Goodwill.
My mother and I were discussing favors the other day and she thinks this concept is so foreign, and yet I know many people who are adamant that something be offered at the table. My mother likened the idea of favors at a wedding to a gift bag filled with Crayons and candy you hand out at a child's birthday party. However, I do feel it is important to offer something as a "Thank You" to the guests. Interestingly, my notion that trinket type favors are on the outs with brides and guests alike was bolstered by a forum I found on WeddingWire where a person asked, "Do Guests Really Want Wedding Favors?". The overwhelming majority answered "no", but did agree that edible favors would go over better.
After sorting the pros and cons with various kinds of favors (which I will list below) I concluded we will do an edible favor - cookies to be exact. I really loved the idea above that I found on Pinterest. It had no link associated with it, but these are Anchor Hocking jars that you can get at Wal-Mart for $9.97 each. I personally despise shopping at Wal-Mart but the truth of the matter is that these 2-gallon cookie jars are MADE IN THE USA by Anchor Hocking and they are extremely nice and Wal-Mart has the cheapest price.
While this is a very nice and appealing display for cookies, the problem with a "buffet style" get-your-own treat bar is guests that over serve themselves. My mother told me while she was researching the cookie favor option, many brides regretted having a serve yourself cookie bar. Not only would guests graze on cookies all night long, but then they would take SEVERAL fill-your-own-bags home for coworkers, neighbors, and friends. It would never occur to me personally to scoop up handfuls of goodies at a WEDDING to pass out to acquaintances, but this apparently happened often enough for several online forums to be dedicated to it. While the idea IS for the cookies to be eaten by everyone, it seemed that if people were given the option to "take at will", only about half of the guests would get any at all! To eliminate guests from packing 20 cookies into a bag designed to hold 4, we will be making our own personalized bags and place ONE at each table setting that will contain 4 different cookies. If there are any cookies left over, they will be placed on a platter alongside cupcakes and other various small treats to be eaten as "extras" for dessert.
Cookies are not the only treat where you can run into serving issues. You get into the same problems with self-serve candy and popcorn bars. If there are children at your reception, they will inevitably stick their bare hands right into jars forgoing the use of tongs or scoops to grab a treat. You will also notice that the glass jars above have lids - many couples do not take into account that the lids will need space to be set down while guests are serving themselves. You cannot really hold a bag, a heavy glass lid, and a scoop/tongs at the same time. This can also lead to placing bare hands into vessels which can be a HUGE turn off for some people. And do not EVEN get me started on chocolate fountains! Thank goodness they are going out of style, because I honestly cannot think of a worse thing to have at a wedding than a chocolate fountain. Not only will kids stick their hands or faces directly under the molten chocolate (I personally witnessed this happen at two weddings) but guests will not think twice about double dipping a crispy treat they have already bitten into. The fountain becomes an edible Petri dish in no time flat...GROSS!
Anyway, without further ado, I will go over my pros and cons with various kinds of trinkets and why you might want to opt for an edible favor instead of an item.
The Place Card Holder as a Favor:
The above place card holders were found at MyWeddingFavors and I thought they would be really cute for a vintage or steampunk theme wedding. If you are having a plated meal you MUST use place cards of some kind so guests know where to sit...but then using the holder as a favor? Why? I mean really, how many guests for one will WANT a single place card holder as a favor and two, who would assume this to be a favor? And yet, there are many sites that suggest using a place card holder to double as a favor. The holders above cost about $1.40 a piece or roughly $210 for 150 guests. If you were to go with an option like this, I would suggest you use them as part of your tablescape then resell them after the wedding.
Better Idea:
Found at The Knot, here someone used real Clementine oranges or Cuties to hold the place card. Guests can eat these once they are seated and you can make your OWN little tag for the top really easily! You get, what, 30 oranges in a crate for $5 at the grocery? That is only about $0.16 per cardholder or $24 for 150 guests. You could use recycled paper you already have for the tags as well.
Also found at MyWeddingFavors are these really cute bottle openers. Bottle openers have become very en vogue as wedding favors in the past few years. I believe this might have something to do with the rising popularity of craft beers that have caps that actually come off with a bottle opener. But, unless you are drinking a craft beer I could not tell you the last time I opened a beer or soda that did not have a screw top. Now, I am not a beer drinker myself but we do get beers every once in a while to use for cooking chili. Not once have I ever opened one having to use an opener. You get into the same problem with corkscrews. Odds are, everyone who has wine in their homes already has 3-4 corkscrews so why would they need another? The above openers are quite pricy as well. They are a whopping $2.70 EACH so for 150 guests that would be $405 without shipping.
Better Idea:
Coasters! The above coasters I found being handmade from Etsy seller Vermont Branch Company. Most people can, do, and will use coasters. I use coasters at home because I have a glass top coffee table and they are great to have on hand for parties and holiday get-togethers. The above artisan coasters come out to about $3 each ($450 for 150 guests), but coaster are so easy to make yourself if you went with this as a favor option for your wedding. Coasters are a great option because what you can do is get CHEAP "tumbled" tile from a hardware store like Lowe's or Home Depot and you can customize them yourself for often less than $0.25 each. I bet you could whip up coasters for 150 guests at about $40 total cost.
In recent years bizarre kitchen related items have made their way into wedding favor territory. For example, the personalized honey pots above. Going in the vane of salt and pepper shakers, who uses honey pots today? I collect vintage honey pots and jars but I never use them since my honey comes in its own glass jar from the farmers market. Other items cropping up as favors are mini whisks, ice cube trays, silicone cupcake cups for baking, cookie cutters, measuring spoons, and so on. Unless you or your spouse are bakers or chefs and everyone was aware of that fact, I think giving a kitchen staple that everyone already has is just silly. The kitchen items also seem to be really pricy. The honey pots are $3.70 EACH or $555 for 150 favors.
Why not give ACTUAL honey as a favor if you want to use a cooking/baking theme for the gift? These small jars of clover honey can be personalized and are small enough for 2-3 breakfast uses. These come out to about $3 each or about $450 for 150 jars. Again, this is likely something you could get MUCH cheaper from a local bee keeper and you could tie your own twine around the lids and make your own labels. The same holds true for locally made jellies, jams, and salsas.
Things that Smell:
It seems like today everyone has a "thing" with things that smell - and that "thing" is almost always negative. This includes soaps, candles, perfumes, sachets, potpourris, etc. Not only do you have to be concerned with allergies and headaches, but if you opt for something scented you can bet only a fraction of your guests will like it. For example, most votive candles that you can get at any of a zillion wedding favor stores online use vanilla as the scent - if you do not like vanilla you likely do not have an alternate smell choice. Soaps have become more popular for use in rustic themed weddings as well. The lovely burlap wrapped soaps above are sold by Etsy seller CountryChicSoaps. While these are homemade and probably smell really great, I am actually allergic to many oils people put into homemade soaps. For whatever reason they make my hands puff up, and I also have friends who are allergic to fancy soaps. At $1.65 each ($247.50 for 150) for the soaps above, this makes a really elegant statement...but it would not be appreciated if your guests were turned off by the scent.
Wedding seed packets! At WeddingPackets, they make customized seed pouches of your choice to offer as a favor. These are really easy for guests to use because most seeds you can just dump in the soil and lightly cover in the fall and they come up in the spring. Furthermore, most people like flowers even if they are allergic since they can be enjoyed by looking outdoors from inside your house. The ones sold through Wedding Packets are only $0.31 each or $46.50 for 150 packets. However, you could make your own for pennies each and create your own wildflower mix if you wished!
The Verdict:
Basically, I cannot really find much fault with edible favors. Especially with cookies - who does NOT like cookies? I know some couples want to make a statement with their favors regardless if their guests really can use/want them. But, as a bride on a budget, I cannot just throw money away on something I think is cute and not consider the appeal factor or usefulness for my guests.If you are the kind of person who thinks they really need to give an item since food and booze is a given at most weddings, think outside the box! There are many DIY tutorials to be found online, and especially on sites like Pinterest where you view many ideas at once. If Mod Podge and label making are not your thing however, you could turn the favor giving into a game!
I was at a wedding recently where the bride and groom had what I called a "tip jar or beggars cup" for a honeymoon. They placed a huge glass jug on the GIFT TABLE with a sign that said Honeymoon Fund. I thought this was the tackiest thing I had ever seen. I thought to myself, "Here I am placing the gifts I bought you from your registry on the table, and you are asking for another handout?" I mean I know weddings are expensive and the couple probably did not have much money left over for a honeymoon, but why be so forward about it? Some people thought this was "cute" but many people did not think kindly of the idea.
I think a much classier way to go about this is to give guests the option to buy raffle tickets for a NICE item - and have the ticket money go towards a honeymoon or new house fund for the bride and groom. For example, say tickets are $1 each and each guest can buy as many as they like. The prize could be a $150 gift certificate to a fancy restaurant like Fogo de Chao or something like that. I bet a lot of people would drop $20 easily on tickets for a chance to win something nice, and it would go over much better than placing a jar on a gift table only to have guests drop pocket change and singles inside. Since we are not having a religious affiliated ceremony or reception I think we might do the Lottery ticket idea (some people can be very much offended by games of chance or gambling, the same goes for liquor as favors so keep this in mind). It would only cost us $150 and it would be a GREAT way to get guests involved on the dance floor!
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